"Ghaaaa!" Chen Gang let out an agonized scream as a streak of sword light pierced through his divine fortification.

With so many attacks coming from all directions, all at once, no one could tell how much power each one carried.

Fortunately, none of Chen Gang's vital points were hit, but the streak of light still punched through his abdomen, causing him to fall from the Golden Fruit Tree.

"You're courting death!" Lu Changsheng's brow furrowed. He had intended to protect the members of the Heavenly Lin Squad and obtain the Golden Fruits, but now, it seemed like an outright slaughter was unavoidable. Amid this relentless assault, he could not protect them all. If this continued, everyone in the squad apart from him would be wiped out.

Voosh!

His Starry Sky Waterfall Domain expanded instantly. Most Domains could not cover a wide range, and their coverage was limited by their very nature, but Lu Changsheng's was different. It carried the essence of the Starry Sky Domain, and the defining trait of such a Domain was clear: being vast and boundless. The sudden expansion of his Domain meant he was ready for massacre.

From ten zhang to a hundred, and then to a thousand. In the blink of an eye, the Domain spread across the battlefield, engulfing hundreds of Divine Fortification martial artists. Instantly, everyone felt as if Mount Tai was pressing down on them, bearing heavily on their minds.

Of course, these top-tier martial artists had enough heart force to break free from Lu Changsheng's mental suppression, which was why he wasted no time in unleashing his Heart Sword.

Whoosh, woosh, woosh!

The invisible and formless Heart Sword lashed out in all directions. It did not target anyone specifically; rather, it erupted with Lu Changsheng at the center.

"Aaaagh!"

"What is this?!"

"Agh, my head! I can't hold on!"

"A mental secret technique!"

Cries rang out through the battlefield as the Heart Sword swept outward. Those struck felt their minds violently shaken, as if torn apart. The pain had to be unbearable.

Again, Lu Changsheng swung his saber, unleashing a streak of light that spread into dozens and even hundreds of trails, each gleaming with a chilling sharpness. Under normal circumstances, such division would have greatly weakened their power, but the Starry Sky Waterfall Domain changed everything.

The half-materialized Domain amplified every streak of saber light, while the Heart Sword continued to tear through his adversaries' minds. Those who had been struck were defenseless and completely at his mercy.

"Fall!" he uttered with a frosty gaze, and the countless streaks of saber light descended in unison.

Splurt!

Lu Changsheng wielded the saber with such ease that the weapon itself no longer mattered. Each strike landed with ruthless precision, cleaving through layer after layer of divine fortification. Even without the full force of one hundred thousand cauldrons, it remained lethal.

Most martial artists did not possess that many layers of divine fortification to begin with. Having more than two was actually quite rare; most people in the Divine Fortification Realm only had one or two. Even if the divine fortification was top tier, the usual enhancement was only about twenty or thirtyfold, amounting to roughly thirty to forty thousand cauldrons of strength—enough to break through most defenses.

However, thanks to his Domain, each of Lu Changsheng's strikes carried around fifty thousand cauldrons of force, thus surpassing whatever divine fortification his opponents possessed. As such, when the streaks of saber light fell, his enemies dropped like flies.

"Aaaaah! Help me!"

"Someone help!" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Run! Get the hell away from here."

"Lu Changsheng's a monster! If we stay here any longer, we're done for!"

The battlefield descended into terror. Some were fortunate enough to avoid a fatal blow, only to fall into the swamp and sink. That was the Golden Swamp—once you fell, death was certain, even if you were in the Divine Fortification Realm. Cries of help became muffled and quickly died down as the swamp swallowed them whole.

Lu Changsheng had unleashed only a single burst of saber light, and dozens had already perished. At the sight, even the most seasoned experts wavered. Perhaps they could withstand dozens, or even hundred of those fifty-thousand-cauldron strikes, but what would they do when Lu Changsheng poured one hundred cauldrons of force into his saber? What then?

"His Domain, saber technique, even the secret mental technique... Everything in his arsenal is top-tier in the Divine Fortification Realm. Who could possibly stand against him?"

"Even Dong Tianhua couldn't take a single strike from him. Perhaps he has no equal in the Divine Fortification Realm."

"He's just invincible, plain and simple.

"Lu Changsheng truly is the foremost martial artist of the Divine Fortification Realm in the Ancient Region!"

Some martial artists kept their distance from the carnage. In truth, they had only come to watch, with no intention of competing for the Golden Fruits. From ten li away, they could still see everything unfolding within the Golden Swamp.

Lu Changsheng stood alone before the Golden Fruit tree with his saber, facing hundreds of top-tier Divine Fortification martial artists without the slightest hint of fear on his face. With a wave of his hand, his half-materialized Domain had suppressed over a hundred opposing Domains, and with a single swing of his saber, Dong Tianhua of the Lingshu Squad had lost an arm. And then, saber light rained down on everyone and cut down dozens of top experts in an instant.

Now Lu Changsheng stood there in silence, his gaze sweeping across the crowd. Even the strongest among them felt a chill in their hearts. Following this carnage, his name would be remembered by everyone in the Ancient Region. If he was not the best Divine Fortification martial artist in the region, then who was? If this was not invincibility, then what was?

"How is this possible?"

"How can he be this strong?"

"One man... One man holding off hundreds of top experts!"

"Holding them off? He's outright crushing everyone! I don't think even a Divine Treasury expert could do something like this."

Everyone in the Lingshu Squad was pale, especially Dong Tianhua, who had lost an arm. Even if they failed to recover it, he could regrow it in time with the aid of spirit medicines. The real damage, however, was not physical, but psychological. A true swordsman was one with his blade, and Dong Tianhua's blade had just been shattered. Normally, if the sword broke, the man would fall with it—yet Dong Tianhua lived.

"Captain, we still have that treasure. Should we..."

The members of the Lingshu Squad were still unwilling to give up. For this Golden Fruit battle, they had paid a heavy price to obtain a one-time-use treasure. That was their trump card. Even when Dong Tianhua had come close to death, Zhao Lingshu had been unwilling to use it.

"Tianhua, it’s up to you. If you want to wipe away that humiliation, then use it. There's no guarantee you'll be able to kill Lu Changsheng, but you do have a chance," said Zhao Lingshu, his expression solemn.

All eyes turned to Dong Tianhua. Of everyone in the Lingshu Squad, he had suffered the most.

"Using that reassure?" Dong Tianhua looked at Lu Changsheng beneath the Golden tree, then shook his head. "No, it's futile. Even with that... we still can't kill him."

"Huh?"

"Dong Tianhua, are you scared of him?"

"That treasure can pose a threat even to Divine Treasury experts."

"Lu Changsheng might be strong, but surely not stronger than a Divine Treasury expert, right?"

Naturally, everyone was taken aback by Dong Tianhua's attitude, as they all had great confidence in that treasure.

"We don't even know what else Lu Changsheng has up his sleeve," Dong Tianhua went on, maintaining his composure. "Pushing two Domains to Perfection and fusing them into a half-materialized Domain... you think someone like that would reveal all of his trump cards so quickly? No, Lu Changsheng has yet to go all out. When I was engulfed by his Domain... something fell off. It's not as simple as it looks."

"Huh..."

The others were not yet fully convinced, but his prestige within the squad was undeniable, and no one argued further.

"Tianhua... So you're saying we should retreat?"

"Yes, let's retreat. With Lu Changsheng here... we've got no chance at the Golden Fruits. After today... Lu Changsheng's going to shake the entire Ancient Region. He'll be the undisputed foremost martial artist in the Divine Fortification Realm."

They had never heard Dong Tianhua speak with such emotion.

Some people had assumed that Dong Tianhua might be the foremost martial artist in the Divine Fortification Realm, but then Lu Changsheng emerged and shook the entire Ancient Region. In his case, no one would question his being the very best.

"Alright, then we go!" Zhao Lingshu made his decision. If the quest for the Golden Fruits seemed hopeless, he would not force it. Besides, they could always gather resources elsewhere.

"Huh?"

When they turned to leave, Zhao Lingshu caught sight of a woman in the distance. She was dressed in green, had long hair, and her expression was cold. She was slowly walking toward the Golden Fruit Tree as though stepping on solid ground. The swamp did not swallow her.

Zhao Lingshu's heart jolted as he realized he had seen this woman before.

"Wu Qingyi?!" His eyes widened with shock.

That woman was none other than Wu Qingyi, a Divine Treasury expert!